i built a mame arcade cabinet, and i want to add two light guns to it.
 the only ones that I can find are these:
http://www.act-labs.com/scripts/proddetails.asp?pid=132.  The only
problem is, the specs say that they dont work on projection tvs. 
Further investigation taught me that light guns will NEVER work on an
LCD projection tv, but they may sometimes work on a CRT projection TV.
 Could this have been a lack of CRT consideration by actlabs? 
Regardless, my tv is a hitachi ultra view 46" crt projection with
svideo input.  There has to be SOME way to get this working.  after
all, i know the giant time crisis two screens in arcades have to be
projection tvs, for as far as I know it is impossible to make full on
crts bigger than 40 inch.  I would like one of three things.

1.  indisputable proof that these light guns will work with my tv
(again 46" hitachi ultraview crt projection).
2.   indisputable proof that these light guns will not work with my television.
3.   a way that i can sort of rig something up so that they will work.  

P.S.  one idea i had was to buy the regular vga lightguns described at
http://www.act-labs.com/scripts/proddetails.asp?pid=92 (the other ones
i posted were svideo only) and using a signal converter box to change
the vga signal from the gun box to the svideo that the tv accepts. 
just an idea though.  try to prove to me that that idea wont work
please.


15 bucks sounds fair to me...

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Clarification of Question by sevennus-ga on 25 May 2004 20:16 PDT

Also, I forgot to note.  My tv is not an HDTV.  its like 10 years old
or something,  it doesn't even have composite input.

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Clarification of Question by sevennus-ga on 26 May 2004 01:31 PDT

err, when i said composite, i meant component.  sorry for the slip. 
my tv doesnt have COMPONENT input.

I can't see why a CRT projector would not work.  It's an electron beam
being swept across the face of a CRT, making the "hot spot" that the
sensor detects.

LCD panels and other non-CRT imaging devices do not use "scanning",
but rather screen allows a constant light source to pass.  This is why
video cameras can shoot LCD screens without that scan-bar present on
most computer CRT's.

NOTE: IF your projector uses line doubling, the scanning detector
would be tripped up pretty badly ... and many "HD" projectors (my
Toshiba!) do use a line doubler.

The reason that I see why a projector tv would not work is from what I
know, the way it works is there is a smaller crt tube inside, and that
image is projected onto a larger screen, and i thought that you can
only shoot at a crt screen, not a projected image of it, but I could
be completely wrong, for I really dont know anything about TVs (if you
havent noticed).  This theory just made sense...

kst seems to understand, but I don't. My first thought is a light gun
is like a laser pointer. Next I concidered that it might be like the
cursor hourglass and arrow that we move on the computer screen. If the
latter, it should be possible (perhaps not practical) to use any type
of screen, plasma, LCD, LED, florescent, or projection plus
electrostatic or magnetic deflction in a CRT.   Neil

Well first of all i need to explain one thing to everyone, when using
a light gun to shoot somthing on tv or a computer's crt screen its
comon sense that the beam doesnt go throught the tv, its the gun that
knows where it shot which tells the computer if u hit or missed.
now the light gun will work 100% with a CRT projection TV and not lcd
projection tvs, because the way that the gun knows where exactley it
shot is that the gun scans the crt tv and knows exacly where is any
point is on it now the CRT tv reacts to the beam sent by the gun by
flash that dims in that point and the gun records that flash gets the
Y, Z locaotion if that point and sends it to the pc and the game will
then process it
now the reason this will work withcrt projection TV's is that
the tv works this way
CRT projector off a miror onto the screen, now if u touch the screen
of that tvv u will notice its plastic unless it has a glass
screensaver that plastic is seethrough but the reason u dont see
inside ur tv is that there is no light inside of it but light does go
through and thats how u see from ur projector to ur eye
now that gun beam will go through the screen off the mirror and on the
CRT projector
now for a Detailed proof of what i said u can go to 
 http://www.epanorama.net/documents/pc/lightpen.html
 http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/question273.htm